Stop motion for a knitting machine



July 30, 1957 Filed Nov. 5, l954- J. P. NEWBOLD 2,800,781

STQP MOTION FOR A KI IITTING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. Jam F? NEWBOLD AT To QM EYS 1957 J. P. NEWBOLD 2,800,781

STOP MOTION FOR A KNITTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 5, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

JEAN F. NEwBou:

ATTQQMEY-S y 1957 J. P. NEWBOLD 2,800,781

STOP MOTION FOR A KNITTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 5, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 2 m 2 a a 5G 3o 1'. 0 Fl: .5 i 58 INVENTOR. JEAN P. NEWBOLD ICE] United Staes STOP MOTION FOR A KNITTING MACHINE Jean P. Newbold, Elizabeth City, N. C. Application November 5, 1954,.SerialNo. 467,015 3 Claims. (Cl. 66-157) This invention relates to a stop motion for a knitting machine and has for its primary object to arrest the operation of the machine when the catch bar fails to follow the descent of the lift member by means of which the catch bar is elevated during the movements of the sinkers and dividers.

Another object is to avoid so-called smashes or wrecks during the knitting process and thereby avoid expensive repairs and shutdowns of the knitting machine.

Another object is to facilitate the rapid attachment of the stop motion to a conventional knitting machine without altering the construction thereof.

The above and other objects may be attained by employing this invention which embodies among its features a switch carried by the lift member of the knitting machine and operatively connected to the power circuit thereof, and a finger carried by the switch and extending above the arm of the knitting machine for engagement thereby when the catch bar of the knitting machine fails to follow the lift member and said switch being actuated to interrupt the power circuit when such a condition prevails.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view of the portion of a knitting machine showing this improved switch mounted on the lift member thereof and the parts in their operative position;

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, showing the arm carried by the catch bar in spaced relation to the lifting element of the lift member and the switch actuated to discontinue the supply of the electrical power to the drive motor of the knitting machine;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view showing the catch bar being held in an elevated position by a butt of a sinker;

Figure 4 is a sectional View taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on the line 55 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line 66 of Figure 4; and

Figure 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line 77 of Figure 4.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the conventional fiat knitting machine is provided with a conventional rock shaft 10 to which is connected a rock arm 12 which extends upwardly from the shaft and has pivotally connected thereto at its upper end as at 14 a catch bar arm 16 carrying a catch bar 18 which moves above the butts 20 of conventional sinkers and dividers 22. The catch bar 18 carries an arm 24 which extends outwardly therefrom on the side thereof opposite the catch bar arm 16 and this arm is provided adjacent its end remote from the catch bar with an upwardly extending opening 26 (Fig. 3) for the reception of the upper end of the lift member 28 by means of which the catch bar 18 is elevated during the periods that the sinkers and dividers 22 are being moved by their respective operating arms 2,800,781 Patented July 30, 1957 in their respective adjacent horizontal rectilinear paths. The lift member 28 is provided adjacent its upper end with an upstanding annular shoulder 30 which is adapted to engage the underside of the arm 24 to positively move the catch bar upwardly and hold it in elevated position during the operation of the sinkers and dividers 22. Carried by the lift member 28 below the shoulder 30 and extending horizontally through said lift member is a pin 32 to which is connected the lower end of a retractile coil spring 34, the upper end of which is connected through the medium of an eye 36 to the arm 24 adjacent the opening 26 to yieldin-gly urge the arm 24 and catch bar 18 to follow the descent of the lift member 28. It will thus be seen that as the lift member moves upwardly, the shoulder 30 will engage the underside of the arm 24 to positively lift the catch bar 18 out of engagement with the butts 20 of the sinker and dividers 22 and the spring 34 will tend to move the arm 24 downwardly during the descent of the lift member 28. However, when a butt or group of butts 20 fails to return to proper position to bereceived in the groove in the catch bar 18, the catch bar will be held upwardly by contact with the butt or butts and the spring 34 will be extended so that the arm 24 cannot follow the lift member 28 during its descent. Such a condition will cause a smash, or wreck, requiring the shutdown of the knitting machine and expensive repairs thereon. The structure so far defined is conventional and forms no part of this invention except in combination therewith and as previously stated, the object of this attachment is to stop the operation of the knitting machine when the condition such as has just been described is encountered.

The invention herein involved is designated generally 38 and comprises a switch having a switch body 40 carryin adjacent its lower end spaced parallel clamp arms 42 which, as illustrated in the drawings, extend adjacent opposite sides of the lift member 28 and are pierced to receive a clamp screw 44 by means of which the arms 42 are clampingly engaged with the lift member 28. Extending into the body 40 intermediate its ends and parallel to the clamp members 42 is a recess 46 for the reception of the end of the pin 32 remote from that to which the spring 34 is connected. It will thus be seen that the body 40 will be properly located on the lift member 28 immediately beneath the shoulder 30. Car ried by the body 40 and projecting outwardly therefrom adjacent the lower end thereof is a contact member 48 which, as illustrated, is disposed on the side of the body 40 remote from the lift member 28, and secured in any suitable manner as by screws 50 to the body on the side thereof remote from the lift member 28 is a spring 52 which projects outwardly beyond the side of the body, as will be readily understood upon reference to the drawings. Bracket arms 54 are carried by and extend upwardly and outwardly from the body adjacent the upper end thereof and on the side thereof remote from the lift member 28 and pivotally mounted as at 56 on the bracket arms 54 to move about a horizontal axis is a switch arm 58. A contact member 60 carried by the switch arm 58 projects outwardly therefrom adjacent the lower end thereof toward the contact 48 so that when the switch arm 58 is moved about the pivot 56 and against the effort of the spring 52, the contact 60 engages the contact 43 to complete an electrical circuit which will interrupt the flow of electrical energy through the prime mover of the machine. Carried by the switch arm 58 and extending outwardly above the arm 24 is a finger 62 which lies in the path of movement of the arm 24 so that when there is an abnormal spacing between the shoulder 30 on the lift member and the arm 24, the switch arm 58 will be moved against the effort of the spring 52 to bring the contact 60 into engagement with the contact 48.

The contact 60 is connected through a suitable conductor 64 to one side of a suitable source of power supply while the contact 48 is coupled through the medium of a suitable conductor 66 with one terminal of the coil 68 of a relay designated generally 70, the oppositeterminal of which coil is connectedthrough a conductor 72 to theopposite side of the source of electrical energy. The relay 70 is provided with an armature 74 and a suitable contact 76 which may be respectively connected to one side of a prime mover 78 and one side of the source of electrical energy while the opposite side of the prime mover 78 is connected to the opposite side of the source of electrical energy so that when the relay is in normal operative position, as illustrated in Figure 1, power will be supplied to the prime mover 78 in a conventional manner. .Should the catch bar 18 fail to follow the downward movement of the lift member 28, however, the finger 62 extending above the arm 24 will cause the switch arm 58 to move against the effort of the spring 52 and advance the contact 6% into engagement with the contact 48 to close the circuit through the coil 68 of the relay'70 to actuate the armature 74 and discontinue the supply of electrical energy to the prime mover 78. In this way, a smash may be avoided as the operation of the machine will be automatically arrested when there is an abnormal spacing between the shoulder 30 on the lift member 28 and the arm 24.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a knitting machine having a power supply circuit, sinkers and dividers mounted to move in adjacent horizontal paths, a catch bar mounted to move above the sinkers and dividers for engaging and moving them in their horizontal paths, a lift member mounted to ascend and descend in an upwardly extending path adjacent the catch bar, an arm carried by the catch bar and intersecting the upwardly extending path for engagement by the lift member to elevate the catch bar upon ascension of the lift member, a switch body carried by the lift member, a switch lever carried by the body to move in an arcuate path adjacent said body, and contacts carried by the body and the lever and operatively connected to the power circuit.

2. In a knitting machine having a power supply circuit, sinkers and dividers mounted to move in adjacent horizontal paths, a catch bar mounted to move above the sinkers and dividers for engaging and moving them in their horizontal paths, a lift member mounted to ascend and descend in an upwardly extending path adjacent the catch bar, an arm carried by the catch bar and intersecting the upwardly extending path for engagement by the lift member to elevate the catch bar upon ascension of the lift member, a switch body carried by the lift member, a switch lever carried by the body to move in an arcuate path adjacent said body, contacts carried by the body and the lever and operatively connected to the power circuit, and a finger carried by the switch lever and extending above the arm for engagement thereby when the catch bar fails to follow the descent of the lift member to move the switch lever and the contacts into engagement to thereby interrupt the power circuit.

3. In a knitting machine having a power supply circuit, sinkers and dividers mounted to move in adjacent horizontal paths, a catch bar mounted to move above the sinkers and dividers for engaging and moving them in their horizontal paths, a lift member mounted to ascend and descend in an upwardly extending path adjacent the catch bar, an arm carried by the catch bar and intersecting the upwardly extending path for engagement by the lift member to elevate the catch bar upon ascension of the lift member, a switch body carried by the lift member, a switch lever carried by the body to move in an arcuate path adjacent said body, contacts carried by the body and the lever and operatively connected to the power circuit, yielding means carried by the body and engaging the switch lever for holding the contacts separated, and a finger carried by the switch lever and extending above the arm for engagement thereby when the catch bar fails to follow the descent of the lift member to move the switch lever against the effort of the yielding means and move the contacts into engagement to thereby interrupt the power circuit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,067,146 Porter et al. Jan. 5, 1937 2,343,485 Start et al. Mar. 7, 1944 2,427,163 Schmidt et al Sept. 9, 1947 

